Hellooo all! I wanted to have some lighthearted reading for the next couple updates, I think we have had enough of these super heavy, emotionally draining chapters, huh? I hope you all have been doing well and staying safe. As much as I enjoy the deeper and darker stuff (and we will still get some of that), I love me some wholesome content as well, hope you all agree! Anyway, enough from me lol. Happy reading! All cast and characters of Hey Arnold! belong to creator Craig Bartlett.
Chapter 11: You call this a date?
The leaves of Hillwood had finally made their grand turn, and the city was a vast sea of scarlet, vermilion and umber. The smell of stale exhaust clung to the crisp air along with the fragrance of warm spices and hot chocolate. Helga Pataki loved autumn, and after living in a state that had virtually one season there was a certain nostalgia and fondness that had been overtaking her as the colors changed. She had always enjoyed wearing big comfy sweaters, scarves and stretchy leggings, although presently she didn't have a great fall wardrobe, having lived in California for the last five years. Thankfully she had a friend as wonderful and stylish as Rhonda Lloyd to whisk her around to busy and mind blowingly dull department stores all day.
Helga was walking towards the downtown area, GPS open on her phone since she still was struggling navigating the city by herself. She was to meet Phoebe and Rhonda in a few minutes in front of the strip mall but had stopped off for a caramel latte along the way, she hated to admit she loved froo-froo drinks like this and normally did what she could to avoid the sugary, empty calories, especially so late in the day. But what the hell? She was in a good mood today, why not try on five thousand cable knit sweaters and drink bougie coffee? Heck, maybe she'd even convince Princess Lloyd to jump into some leaf piles in her billion dollar parka and get Phoebe to skip a night of homework so they could throw caramel apples at Harold Berman. She chuckled to herself, it was rare she felt this jovial and carefree. It was a nice change of pace.
The department stores were just ahead, and lo and behold there were her two raven-haired friends, anxiously awaiting Helga's arrival. Phoebe and Rhonda waved her over, as she finished the remnants of her hot sugary drink and dumped the cup into a nearby trash can. She offered her friends a small wave and joined them in front of the large doors of a nice-looking boutique.
"Afternoon Helga," Rhonda started. "Nice uh, jeans."
Helga rolled her eyes, "I've lived in the fucking hellfire that is the state of California for the last five years, Princess. Cut me a break."
Phoebe chuckled, and a small smile formed on Rhonda's face, "Fine, fine. You're right. They really are cute jeans, though."
"Thanks for the revelation Rhonda. 'Sup Pheebs, nice day huh?"
"Afternoon Helga! Yes, it's an exceptionally pleasant day. The senescence of the native foliage certainly is breathtaking this time of year," Phoebe quipped happily in response.
"English, Pheebs," Helga responded and Phoebe sighed.
"The leaves are pretty," her friend responded in monotony. The three girls chuckled as Rhonda ushered them inside.
"Alright ladies, enough chit-chat. We are on a mission to find Helga a suitable wardrobe. Everybody knows that fall fashion is the fashion. It's iconic. Honestly, you're lucky that I'm here to make sure you don't end up buying something hideous," Rhonda said, and eyeballed an oversized sweater Helga was admiring on the rack. "Ugh, like that."
Helga rolled her eyes and placed the hanger back on the bar of the clothes rack. If it wasn't for Phoebe somehow convincing Helga this was a good idea, she probably wouldn't have been as keen on coming. For this reason exactly. Rhonda was always a nightmare to shop with, when she wasn't dressing her friends up in overpriced garments made of silk or cashmere, she was dragging them from store to store as she carefully investigated practically every thread of every article of clothing. Not that Helga minded shopping, but she could think of infinitely better ways for her to spend her Saturday that didn't include being dressed up as a doll for four hours. Thank god for Phoebe, at least she would help Rhonda ease up off of her. It's amazing how the friendship between the three girls had remained so much the same after five years. As annoying as Rhonda Lloyd was, Helga had yearned for days like these after she had moved away. Of course, she wasn't going to tell Rhonda that, the last thing she needed to do was encourage her.
"Ah Helga, this is adorable, let's add it to the pile of stuff for you to try on," Rhonda said as she admired the lilac colored sweater.
"Did you say pile? I haven't even pulled anything off the racks yet!" Helga complained.
"Oh that's not a problem, I have enough fashion sense for the both of us after all," Rhonda responded with a smirk. Helga was annoyed but she decided to let it go right now, the more she went with the flow the faster they could all get out of there. And at least Rhonda had decent taste.
The one thing that Helga was always adamant about picking out herself was shoes. So while Rhonda ripped clothes from hangers and threw them into the arms of Phoebe for Helga to try on, Helga admired the shelving in the corner of the store with rows and rows of boots for the changing season. One pair immediately caught her eyes, they were very similar to the combat boot style she always gravitated towards. They were a matte black, covered in different buckles but laced up to the mid-calf. They even had something of a chunky heel to them, almost like a wedge. She had to have them, and was soon trying them on in her size. These boots were kind of...sexy, but still looked like she could knock a few heads in wearing them. They were perfect. Rhonda sauntered over and observed the boots on Helga's slim legs.
"Hm, very hot. Very you. You should definitely buy them," Rhonda said and gave Helga an encouraging smile. "Now grab them and hurry up! You have some clothes to try on."
Helga took the boots off and slung them over her shoulder, following her slender friend towards the curtain of the changing booth. Rhonda wasn't wrong, there certainly was a pile, though Helga would have described it as more of a mountain.
"Christ Lloyd, I only have today ya know," she said sarcastically before grabbing a few clothing items and taking them into the changing booth behind her.
She first tried on the lilac sweater she first saw Rhonda grab. It was actually pretty cute, it had a high neckline, but the fabric was open to expose both shoulders on either side. The sleeves were loosely fitted, and the body of the sweater hugged her torso in all the right spots. She paired them with a pair of black leather jeggings, with which she decided to add her new beloved boots as the final touch.
Damn, not bad Princess, she thought, admiring herself in the mirror.
"Helga, come out so we can actually see it!" Rhonda commanded.
Helga obliged and whipped the curtain of the changed booth open, and her two friends both gave nods of approval.
"Oh Helga! That outfit suits you completely!" Phoebe remarked.
Rhonda smiled, clearly feeling proud of a job well done, "I must say I've outdone myself. Your ass looks insane in those."
"Alright, alright enough schmoozing. What's next?" Helga asked.
The next hour proceeded in this same manner, and Helga was pleasantly surprised at how much she loved everything her friend picked out. Sure, some stuff wasn't necessarily her style, but Rhonda did a damn good job of finding things that at least looked good. Helga was getting tired of parading around like some mindless wind-up doll though, her feet were killing her and she was starting to get hungry.
"Okay let's wrap it up ladies I don't wanna spend the night here," Helga said.
Rhonda quickly objected, "Not so fast, there's still one last thing here I want to see you in."
Helga groaned, "Come on Rhonda, I just wanna get some grub. We can always come back you know, the store isn't going anywhere."
But her dark head friend simply shook her head, "We're already here. It's just one more thing Helga, after this I promise we'll leave."
"Oh for fucks sake, fine. But this is it, I'm freaking starving over here. Plus I'm sure Phoebe is bored outta her mind," Helga motioned to her tiny friend, who was spaced out typing away on her phone. Phoebe finally registered what was said and quickly put her phone away.
"Oh uh, no it's quite alright Helga. I'm not bored," Phoebe said.
"Sure, sure. Tell Geraldo I say 'hello,'" Helga retorted. She ripped the piece of clothing from Rhonda's hands and stomped back into the changing booth.
Helga unfurled the wad of cloth, it was a dress. Of course, she wanted to immediately hate it, for no other reason than to be spiteful. Annoyingly however, it was totally adorable. It was sort of blush pink in color, but was something of a nude shade as well. There was a piece of fabric that hugged around her neck, similar to a turtleneck, but was exposed from just above her collar bone and plunged down into a deep v, tastefully exposing the cleavage of her ample breasts. The hemline stopped about two inches above her knees, and the dress itself was quite fitted around her abdomen. The sleeves were long which she liked, it added an element of modesty without making her look prudish. Helga overheard the bell of the shop ding, and heard men's voices speaking from a distance.
Poor bastards. Probably got dragged here just like I did, she thought and chuckled to herself as she admired the fit of the dress in the mirror.
"Pataki, are you decent yet? We want to see it!" Rhonda called from outside the curtain of the changing booth. "And make sure to wear the boots with. If ever there was an outfit for you to stomp around in this is it."
"Keep your shirt on Rhonda, or I'll stomp on your head," Helga muttered and stepped out of the room. Both girls gasped excitedly as she exited, clearly they approved.
"Holy. Shit," Rhonda said in awe of her friend. "Okay, your little boyfriend is gonna lose his mind when he sees you in this."
Helga chuckled, looking down as she used her hands to smooth out the front of her dress, "Excuse me, not my boyfriend. I'd prefer to date someone with a fucking brain, Lloyd."
"That's no way to talk about your boyfriend, Helga," an all-too-familiar voice remarked. Her eyes were like saucers and they immediately landed on the blonde boy clad in a plaid shirt with a black jacket layered over top, a beanie and dark wash jeans in front of her.
The look of amusement that overtook Arnold's face made Helga realize that her jaw had practically fallen on the floor. She readjusted herself and crossed her arms as she observed the boy in front of her. She didn't like surprises and she certainly didn't like someone thinking they got the better of her.
"Oh puh-lease, Football Head. Since when are you my boyfriend?" she asked and quirked an eyebrow at him. Arnold simply smiled his lop-sided smile and hoisted himself over the back of the couch to sit between Phoebe and Rhonda. He laced his hands together and rested them against the back of his head as he leaned back into the couch cushion.
"Since always," he replied and laughed as Helga's eyebrows knitted together in frustration. His eyes fell from her face and traced the shape of her body, she looked hot. Like really hot. He made a mental note to consider offering Rhonda Lloyd his first-born child when the time came, because between this dress and the one at the party he had enough mental images to use in the shower to last him a lifetime. For whatever reason her presence encouraged Helga to wear these bombshell dresses that were something straight out of a junior high fantasy.
"It's rude to stare, Hair Boy," Helga lectured. "Wait hold the fuck on, what are you even doing here!?"
Right on cue, Gerald rounded the corner towards the changing booth, wearing sunglasses with the tag still on them. "Chill, Pataki. Phoebe invited us."
Phoebe shrunk into the couch as Helga glowered at her. "Wanna explain to me why you invited these two idiots?"
However it was Rhonda who answered her blonde friend's question. "Isn't it obvious Helga? We planned on inviting them from the beginning."
Arnold and Helga exchanged surprised looks before staring at their friends.
Rhonda sighed, "We're setting you two up on a date."
"Uh, why are you setting us up on a date?" Arnold asked.
"Oh come on Arnold, it's totally obvious that you two are obsessed with each other. You're either sneaking around licking each other's faces off, as if we are too stupid to notice or you're moping around not talking and expecting us to suddenly give a shit about your love lives, it's annoying. We're all friends so don't put us in the middle," Rhonda stated.
"Rhonda!" Helga hissed, but her black haired friend simply shrugged. "What we do is none of your damn business."
"Quite frankly, the both of you have a habit of making it our business," Phoebe interjected. "It's time for the two of you to confront your feelings and come to some sort of agreement."
Helga whipped her head at her small friend, "Seriously, you too Pheebs? You don't even like Arnold!"
Arnold chuckled and turned to Phoebe, "Aw c'mon Phoebe, I'm not all bad."
Phoebe started blushing uncontrollably, and nervously adjusted her glasses, "Well it's not that I don't like you, Arnold. It's just...well you sort of have a habit of acting like a-"
It was Gerald's turn to speak up, "What Phoebe means is that even though you're a fucking pain in the ass, not unlike Pataki here, you might actually be good for eachother. Of course, you both could be pretty terrible for each other too. It's hard to say." Helga's hands fell to her hips, and the other three teens all flashed him a strange look. "Oh don't y'all look at me like that, we're all thinking the same thing."
"Look, we just thought it would be nice for you guys to get together and go on a real date," Rhonda explained. "We're all getting tired of walking on eggshells around you two, and not knowing what the hell is going on from one day to the next."
"Rhonda's right," Gerald added. "You guys have been going on like this for over a month and aren't any closer to making a damn decision for yourselves. Normally I'd stay out of it but you two are dramatic as hell. It's gettin' old."
Helga paced back and forth as her friends lectured her and Arnold. She could see Rhonda and even Gerald trying to meddle, but Phoebe too?
Helga's annoyance was growing the more the trio spoke, "What gives you guys the right to make us decide?"
Phoebe answered. "No one is making you do anything, Helga. All we are asking is that you two try something more conventional, more foundational. We all have your best interests at heart. I'm sorry to go behind your back but we just thought that-"
"Pheebs. We need to have a little chat," Helga said and forcefully grabbed her friend's wrist and hoisted her off of the couch. She walked them towards the changing booth, slinging open the curtain. Helga turned and feigned a smile, and pushed Phoebe in ahead of her. "Excuse us for a moment, won't you?"
Gerald sighed and shook his head, "Damn shoulda known Pataki would react like this. Arnold I need to talk to you for a second. Rhonda you're good right?"
Rhonda huffed and crossed her arms, "Oh no please, go right ahead. Why should anyone care what I have to say?"
"Look, Phoebe might need a little bit of back-up. You know how Pataki can get," Gerald replied.
"Fine," she groaned. Gerald gave her a small nod of acknowledgment and ushered Arnold around the corner with him away from the girls.
Meanwhile in the changing booth, Helga was grilling a petrified Phoebe. "What the hell, Phoebe!? What if I don't want to go on a fucking date? Whose lame idea was this, anyway?"
"Helga, I think you should calm down. I just thought that-"
"You just thought? Don't tell me this whole thing was your idea," Helga asked in a low voice.
"Well not exactly. Gerald originally conceived the idea, I was just the one to plan the execution of it," her friend explained.
"You set me up! So what the fuck is Lloyd doing here?"
"Well the idea was to establish something of a romantic evening for you and Arnold. Not only would Rhonda provide an adequate distraction while Gerald retrieved Arnold, but we figured her eye for fashion might be advantageous in-"
Helga scoffed, "In what? Serving me up on a silver platter like some kind of piece of meat?"
"Helga," Phoebe said sternly. "We're doing this for you, we're not doing this to you."
"You sure flip-flopped. Just a couple weeks ago you were practically begging me to drop the guy like a bad habit. Now you want me to go on a date with him? What's your angle here?"
"There's no angle, Helga. Look, Gerald and I have been...talking a bit about the situation. Don't misunderstand, I do firmly believe that your impulsivities are egregious and at times dangerous, and I think the two of you have something of a tough road ahead. But you've both been miserable for weeks now. To be perfectly honest it's making all of us miserable too. The three of us were hopeful that maybe making an effort to bring you two together would be more beneficial than detrimental."
Helga softened a bit, it was quite a thoughtful gesture despite her friends being completely sneaky and dishonest. She was actually a bit impressed with Phoebe, hatching schemes like this wasn't exactly her cup of tea.
Phoebe broke the brief moment of silence, "Listen, I just want you to be happy. We all do. And Arnold too. Do I still think that you need to remain vigilant in holding him accountable? Of course. I already told you, you have all the power to bring out the best in him and possibly procure some positive change, Gerald seems to think similarly of Arnold in regards to you. Arnold hasn't always been my favorite person, but I know he's a decent guy at the very least. And I don't doubt that you can take care of yourself."
Helga couldn't help but smile a bit and felt the anger dissipating, "Alright, alright enough ass kissing. But why do it like this? Why not just try asking us to go on a double date or something less shady?"
Phoebe chuckled, "That wouldn't have been nearly as fun. We thought shopping would provide a boost to your confidence, though watching you squirm while you parade around for Rhonda for a couple of hours is certainly quality entertainment in and of itself. You really should have seen Arnold's face, you would have thought he was seeing the sun for the first time the way he was gawking at you." The two friends giggled together before Phoebe continued, "Look, I'm sorry for going behind your back and for setting this up, we really were just trying to give you a nice surprise."
"Jesus Pheebs, you're goddamn devious. Didn't know you had it in you, it's actually kind of impressive. I gotta be honest here, I'm...nervous. Things are just complicated right now, ya know? I mean, screw just being nervous I'm completely terrified. This could go so wrong in so many ways. I don't even know what to do with this anymore."
"Try?" Phoebe asked in a soft, reassuring voice.
The blonde sighed and cradled her head in her hands. She wondered how good of an idea Phoebe and Gerald would think this was if they knew of what happened just a few weeks or so prior at the junkyard. Helga wasn't so sure she was out of the weeds yet when it came to Sid's bullshit, but she didn't want to think of that now. Complicated didn't even scratch the surface, yet there was so much of her that absolutely craved some sort of normalcy. She hadn't had that in a very long time, and she was getting tired of being so fiercely defensive and on-edge all the time. How wonderful would it be to just forget the stinking garbage fire that was her life to be with the one person who she literally lived and breathed love for?
"What was with that lecture though? And where does Rhonda get off saying that shit to me?! She's dating a different guy every other fucking week."
The curtain suddenly flew open, and Rhonda smirked as she glared at the two wide-eyed girls she had taken by surprise.
"I heard that Helga," Rhonda announced.
"Yeah well, it's nothin' I wouldn't say to your face Princess," Helga snapped back. The three shared a brief moment of silence before all laughing together.
Arnold and Gerald stood inconspicuously in a corner behind a well positioned rack of clothing. Arnold was rightfully confused, it wasn't unlike Gerald to try to push him into doing the right thing but he had never done anything so calculated. He was feeling a bit dejected by Helga's reaction, was going on a date with him so appalling that she needed to cause a scene like that? Sure, he was surprised too but she was acting like their friends were fitting her into a straight jacket to go on a date with Jack the Ripper. Arnold was deep in thought and noticed Gerald studying his face.
"Hey man, you good?" Gerald asked.
"Oh uh, yeah I'm good. Just a bit surprised is all. I thought we were going to the arcade or something, I didn't expect...this," Arnold replied honestly.
"Don't tell me you're trying to get out of a date with the girl," Gerald asked with a raised brow.
"Of course not! I'm just processing, is all."
"Alright listen, I didn't mean to call y'all out like that back there, but you have been driving me crazy for so long with all this Pataki bullshit. You've had years to process," Gerald stated.
"Dude, it's not that I don't want to date her, it's just well...you know how Helga is. She hides her feelings and it's so insanely confusing. I mean shit, for all I know she's already stormed out of here. It's hard with her sometimes, she's either mad at me or she's-"
"Riding your dick, you don't have to tell me bro," Gerald said, making Arnold turn a deep shade of scarlet. "No one is forcing you to make her your girlfriend, but I do think that ultimately this is going to be a good thing for you man, when's the last time you went on a real date?"
"I get it, but I dunno. There's a lot I still haven't exactly told her yet. Say tonight goes great, and the next night and the next. Say we start going steady again. But then she finds out I'm not...not who I used to be. Not who she thinks I am, or what she wants me to be. What then? At least right now if she walks away, sure I'll be fucking crushed, but she isn't really mine and I'm not really hers. If we start dating and, and I fall for her again, if she walks away I don't know what I'd do," Arnold explained. It felt weird finally saying it all out loud.
"Arnold c'mon, everyone feels like this to some degree. Now I get that your situation is messy as hell right now, but if Helga really likes you the way that I think she likes you, the way Phoebe says she likes you, then I think you've got a fighting chance. Wouldn't you rather take a shot at being happy, knowing that you at least tried? Or do you want to just go down the road to nowhere and watch some other dude crazy enough to fall for Pataki sweep her off her feet because you didn't want to take a chance?"
The thought of another guy with Helga, laughing with her, holding her hand, kissing her, touching her... He could feel his blood boil just thinking about it, he didn't want to know what he might do if that somehow came to fruition. He might actually kill someone.
But still, Arnold had his reservations, "What if I do something to fuck things up? What if I fuck her up? I don't want to do that again."
Gerald clapped a hand on Arnold's shoulder, "Yo you gotta let that shit with Lila go already. That's ancient history, and the girl made plenty of her own choices in the end. Let's not forget that there were a few times you fought to get out of it. That's not to say you didn't do her dirty in a hell of a lot of ways, but she didn't exactly come out of it squeaky clean either. And let's be totally honest here, did you ever give one iota of a fuck about her to begin with? I think we both know the answer to that one. I think we also both know who was on your mind a hell of a lot more than Lila Sawyer ever was."
Arnold knew that Gerald was right. Gerald was also one of the few people close to Arnold that knew about his illegal money making practices, he assured Arnold that he hadn't disclosed this side hustle to Phoebe, and despite this tidbit seemed to be fairly confident that there was a good chance that things could work out. So what was it that Arnold didn't see that his friend clearly did?
"Okay, okay. I get it. What happened with Lila wasn't entirely my fault, that's true. But I mean, there's other stuff too, Helga's always been...elusive," Arnold said, he felt his eyes glaze over for a moment as a certain vision of a soft pink blur flitted around in his brain.
"Oh I know! Why do you think me and Phoebe set this whole thing up? Don't get me wrong, Rhonda just wanted to be here because Phoebe thought buying some new clothes would cheer Helga up. Ya know how that girl is when it comes to shopping. I sure hope it worked though, Pataki's been seeming awfully down lately and a part of me thinks it might not be all your fault this time," Gerald scratched his chin thoughtfully.
Admittedly, Arnold had been noticing a lot of the same. Whether or not he agreed with Gerald in that it had anything to do with him was hard to say though. After their little rendezvous during lunch with Helga a few weeks ago, she had obviously been keeping a bit more of a distance. Arnold wondered if he had done something to inadvertently upset her, but she still texted him almost every night - albeit, rather late often times. And there was one day between classes she practically threw him into a custodial closet for some making out and heavy petting, but a few hours later pretended not to see him in the hall and glued her eyes to her phone to avoid him. She was uncharacteristically jumpy too, Arnold had happened to come up behind her when she was sitting with Gerald and Phoebe in the cafeteria one day and he thought she was going to sock him. And despite the fact that he of course thought that she always looked great, he noticed some very obvious dark circles painted under her eyes a couple of times. He didn't bring it up though, it's not like he had a lot of room to talk about looking rough.
Arnold finally opened his mouth to speak, "What exactly are we supposed to be doing tonight, anyway?"
Gerald smirked, "Well we might need to buy a little more time, you can't be lookin' like that when Pataki's strutting around lookin' like your eighth grade wet dream."
Arnold glared at him intently but Gerald just laughed at his blonde friend, "Don't act like I'm lyin' here, I saw the way you were staring at her. Very indecent, my friend."
"I'm gonna pretend like I didn't hear that...I'm being serious though. Are we just supposed to wander around town trying to find something to do?"
His friend sighed, "C'mon man, you know I wouldn't let that happen. I already took care of everything," Gerald pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pants pocket. "This is your itinerary for the day, you two just need to show up. Rhonda's already paid for the clothes, Phoebe and I pooled money for the rest."
Arnold stared at the list before giving his friend a suspicious look, "Okay, the Harvest Festival and dinner sound fine, but the Circle Theatre? Isn't that place a little...dated?"
"Just trust me bro, have I ever been wrong when it comes to affairs of the heart?"
"Is that supposed to be rhetorical or would you like a list?" Arnold replied.
"Point taken, sheesh. Phoebe helped me come up with this though, it's a foolproof plan!"
Gerald certainly seemed confident, Arnold still had some reservations, but he'd be lying if he hadn't thought about something like this. In fact he had played out several ideal date situations with Helga loads of times in the past. Plus his friend made a good point, was there any harm in trying? They were basically dating as it was now, anyway. Their relationship had never been a conventional one, maybe this would help bridge the gap between their physical intimacy to an emotional one. There was still so much he wanted to know about Helga from her time away, but so far every conversation they had about it was a deeply unpleasant one. Just how much did she endure while she was away?
"Alright, I'll do it! Helga might take a little more convincing though. Like I said though, as far as I know she's probably already-"
"We blowing this popsicle stand or what, Football Head?" a familiar female voice barked.
Gerald shot his friend a cocky smirk, "He was just coming to get you, Rhonda get you all situated?"
"You bet your ass, if I'm being forced to suffer through a day of playing dress-up with Rhonda, I better get some free clothes out of it," Helga replied.
"Well you two better get going then, you've got a schedule to follow," Gerald said as he pushed his friend from out of the corner of the boutique. "Have fun, you crazy kids."
"Sure, whatever," Helga muttered as her and Arnold walked in stride out of the department store together.
Helga had dressed down a bit, she was wearing a cropped, long sleeved caramel colored sweater, tight high-waisted navy blue skinny jeans and her newly beloved strappy, black combat boots. Arnold thanked her silently, he might have had a hard time acting very gentlemanly if she had worn the former outfit she had on when he first came into the store.
"So uh, Gerald gave me this list," Arnold finally said, and Helga rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah? What's Geraldo got planned for us today, then?"
"Harvest Festival. It's not too far, actually," Arnold replied, motioning for them to round the curb as they made their way down the streets of downtown Hillwood. "Hey wait a minute, didn't Rhonda buy all those clothes for you?"
"Yeah, she said she was going to drop them off at my house for me. And the Harvest Festival, really? That sounds kinda fun actually. I haven't been since I was a kid," Helga said as a small smile creeped across her face.
Arnold smiled back, "Yeah. Yeah I thought so too. Been a while since I've gone as well."
As they meandered through the bustling city, the Harvest Festival came into view on the pier ahead. They could smell lots of seasonal treats, and saw children running around laughing with large balloons that looked like pumpkins. The scene made Helga suddenly realize that Halloween was around the corner and her smile spread further. Halloween was one of her favorite holidays, and there were many fond memories attached to the holiday from her childhood in her hometown.
As they crossed through the gates that kept the contents of the festival corralled, Helga was taken aback. This wasn't the same humble little event that she remembered from her youth. It was pretty massive actually. There were games, vendors and food trucks set up and even a ferris wheel, this was more like a carnival than the dinky little pumpkin themed kids party with an old bobbing for apples trough that the festival used to be.
"What should we check out first?" she asked.
"Well, we're supposed to go to dinner in a bit, so we probably shouldn't fill ourselves up on-"
Too late, Arnold thought chuckling to himself as Helga pulled him into the line for candied apples. He figured "when in Rome" and paid for two of the sweet treats. The two found a small bench and indulged together as they watched the events of the festival unfold. It was actually pretty impressive, there were workers dressed in spooky costumes, and even some street performers and jugglers that drew large crowds and wide-eyed children. As the sun began setting over the seaside, Helga snuck a glance at Arnold. The amber light that was cast on his handsome face and the blonde hair peeking out from under his beanie was quite alluring. He looked good, even though he wasn't wearing anything particularly out of the ordinary. There was an undeniable spark in those mossy eyes of his, he seemed happy and that happiness rather suited him.
"Wanna go watch the fire spinners?" Arnold asked to which Helga nodded.
"Definitely! I'm about done with this anyway, I forgot eating one felt like you were pulling all of your teeth out," Helga mused and the two discarded their half eaten apples.
The fire performers were fantastic, there were two of them - one man and one woman. They were both wearing what looked to be jesters costumes, and had their faces painted in a classic black and red harlequin manner. The man had what appeared to be two flaming balls on chains that he spun in such a way it looked like he was weaving illuminated patterns mid-air as the evening sun was setting. The woman spun what seemed to be a baton with orbs of fire on either end. The way she moved with it was hypnotic, almost sultry. The two of them moved quite differently, but they were still synchronous. Helga looked at Arnold, who appeared captivated with the performance. They continued moving and manipulating fire for several more minutes, before the flames finally went out and they bowed graciously to the large crowd.
"C'mon let's go play some games before it gets too late!" Helga exclaimed, interlocking her fingers with Arnold's as she guided them through the crowd.
There was the classic game where you threw a ball at a stack of milk bottles; knock them all down and you win a prize. Helga laughed to herself, remembering sabotaging the same game as a nine year old little girl when she found out Arnold and Lila had accompanied one another to the Annual Cheese Festival. She looked at the various prizes to be won, the grand prizes being large, squishy stuffed animals of different types for the ones who could knock all the bottles down with the least amount of balls used. There were some other, much less appealing prizes for the losers who tried like ugly posters of snakes and furry throw blankets with tigers on them.
"Want one?" Arnold asked as he watched Helga observing the cutesy stuffed animals on the back wall of the gaming booth.
Helga laughed, "With your weak pitch? You couldn't hit the side of a barn, let's just play the ring toss game or something a little easier."
Arnold glared at her and immediately handed money to the festival worker. He was given four balls and there would be three different stacks of bottles he had to hit. The first was a small stack of three, the next was a stack of five, and the last a stack of seven. He only had one extra ball in case one of the stacks required an extra throw, but he didn't want to use it or he wouldn't get the coveted grand prize. And he had to keep Helga's heckling to a minimum, after all. But he would have to be quite precise with his tosses.
"Alright Football Head, you better channel your inner Mickey Kaline here. What would become of our date if you couldn't even win me some crappy unicorn?" she teased.
Arnold silently threw the ball, knocking down the first set of bottles with ease. The worker set up the next more complicated stack, and Arnold threw the ball once more - easily taking down each of the bottles. He must have thrown the ball with a bit of force as one of the bottles was smashed into pieces.
"Hey kid, go easy over there alright? I don't got an unlimited amount of these ya know," the man working the booth said, glaring at Arnold as he set up the next pyramid of bottles.
Helga smirked, it was kind of cute watching Arnold try so hard. The last set of bottles would be where most people admitted defeat, and even though she didn't expect to walk away with a new plushie treasure, it was still fun watching him sticking his tongue out and beaning those bottles. She was always attracted to how good he was at throwing the ball around, he was still damn good too despite not having practiced in a long time. Of course, she would never tell him that, she enjoyed poking fun at him too much to do that.
Arnold squared his shoulders, and stared over the top of the ball at the bottles. He looked at each bottle, trying to determine which would be the one he needed to hit to cause the whole pyramid to collapse. He wound his arm up, and threw the ball at one of the bottles on the bottom in the middle. Helga watched as the ball flew through the air and crashed into the tower of bottles, and smiled as each one hit the ground. Arnold cheered victoriously and beamed at Helga.
"Couldn't hit the side of a barn, huh?! Time to pick your prize, m'lady," he said chuckling as he put his hands on his hips cockily.
Helga couldn't suppress a laugh and pointed to a round white unicorn plushie that was shaped quite like a potato, "Crappy unicorn it is, bucko!"
The two wandered around for a bit, and Helga kept her prize squeezed tightly against her chest. They played more games, observed a borderline disturbing contortionist, and watched some kids laugh as they ran from the creepy, costumed adults that provided many a jump-scare. Helga took her phone out to look at the time, it was almost 7:15 p.m., she wondered when and where exactly they were to be having dinner together.
"It's starting to get late, should we head out?" she asked, Arnold shook his head at her.
"You're nuts if you think we're leaving before we ride the ferris wheel!"
"Seriously? The ferris wheel is so lame Arnold, and I'm starving!' Helga complained.
"Look, there's only like five people in line, it won't take long," he suddenly leaned very close to her ear, and spoke in a low voice that gave her goosebumps, "Plus I need the excuse to get close to you."
There was a bit of a hunger that arose in Helga, and it wasn't her stomach talking, "F-fine. But let's hurry up, it's starting to get freaking cold out here."
Helga jumped a little as she felt a jacket placed over the shoulders of her crossed arms that were tightly wrapped around her new fuzzy companion. She quickly glanced at Arnold who silently placed his hands back in his pockets.
"Always so chivalrous, you didn't have to give me your freaking jacket," she muttered.
Arnold leaned his face close to hers, "So give it back then."
"Hell no! If you're making me ride this monstrosity it's the least you can do," Helga retorted making Arnold chuckle.
A small group of people, mostly couples, exited the ferris wheel ride and the teens took their place in line. Arnold gave the ride operator some money before the two blondes were quickly ushered into their seat, with the safety bar promptly locked into place. Helga was never a huge fan of heights, but Arnold seemed dead set on doing this before they left so she wanted to oblige. After the last few people were all seated on the ride, the ferris wheel was finally set into motion. As the ride started moving, the chill in the air hit Helga like a punch to the gut. She had given her prized plushie to the ride operator for safekeeping and was now fully regretting that decision. She was freezing, and now the sun had set, taking with it any of its remaining warmth, her breath appeared in a little cloud in front of her face as she exhaled, and her body shook in a feeble attempt to warm itself up.
A strong, warm arm cradled around her, and Arnold pulled Helga's body close to his. Normally she would say something to try and give him a hard time, but she couldn't find the words. If she was feeling breathless from the shock of the cold before, that was only exacerbated by the sudden close proximity now. As her head laid against his chest, she listened to the wub-lub of his heart beating. It didn't take long for his body heat to envelop her, though she was sure she was feeling a bit flushed from simply having close contact with him. It didn't matter how close they had gotten previously, or how many times, he always had that effect on her.
"What do you think of all this?" Arnold asked.
Helga was puzzled, "The Harvest Festival? Not bad, definitely a bigger deal now than what I remember."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about this, us," he responded.
"I mean, it's...fine. There's worse people to spend a Saturday night with," she answered in her usual smart-aleck fashion.
Arnold sighed, "When are we going to talk about this? You've been avoiding me for like two weeks now, when you're not trying to suck face or texting me at midnight."
Helga pulled back, "Talk about what, exactly?" she asked, feigning ignorance. "And I have not been ignoring you and I do not text you at fucking midnight, give me a break."
"Helga stop, I'm not trying to fight okay? I just want to talk, did I do something to piss you off? I really, really would like some clarity. Give me a fucking break," he answered.
Helga cringed, she could tell she had struck a nerve. The problem was she didn't know how to even begin to answer his question. Should she be honest? About the night she followed him? About what happened with Sid? About how she was trying to keep something of a distance because just the fucking thought of him was like taking a shot of dopamine and endorphins straight into her arm? She was terrified of confessing to most of those things, especially considering the very plain warning she received from Sid. She needed to clear the air though, she knew that much. Helga thought to herself for a moment, there had to be a way to bring some of this to the surface without putting Arnold in Sid's line of fire.
"Arnold I need to ask you something," she finally said seriously. Arnold gave her curious look before simply nodding in affirmation. "Are you dealing drugs?"
Arnold was sure all of the color had drained from his face. Damn it.
"Wh-where did you hear that from?"
"Around. Now answer the question," Helga replied.
Arnold gulped, "I'm not really sure if now's the righ-"
Helga grabbed Arnold by his collar and pulled his face close to hers, "Answer the question, Football Head," she said in a low, almost gravelly voice.
Helga was looking Arnold deep in the eyes, it took everything he had not to avert his gaze from hers. He felt shame creeping up on him, he knew that she had to find out eventually but he really preferred not to tarnish their date. He was kicking himself, he should have just left things how they were, he shouldn't have said anything to her. He should have known better, Helga Pataki had always been at least three steps ahead of him for as long as he could remember.
"Seems like you might already know the answer," he muttered. Helga's eyes narrowed, making Arnold squeeze his own shut. "Alright fine, yes."
Helga's grip relaxed and she pulled her face back. She felt relieved, she didn't think it would be that easy. Thank god for her gift of intimidation.
"Your turn," she said, releasing him from her grasp.
"My turn to what?"
"To ask me a question."
Arnold cocked an eyebrow at her, Helga never failed to surprise him, "Okay, back to my first question then, what do you think of all this?"
"I think I like this better when you're honest with me," she replied.
"Just answer the question!"
"I don't understand the damn question," she argued.
Arnold really didn't want to spell it out but he knew she wasn't about to budge, "Me, what do you think of me? Our date? Hanging out together?"
"Um...nice. It's all very uh, nice," she said. Arnold was getting frustrated.
"First 'fine' and now 'nice?' You're a fucking poet and that's all you can say, that everything is nice?!"
Danger zone, Helga ol' girl. Don't do it, don't open the flood gate. Keep your fucking head on straight, Helga recited as a manta in her head.
"Okay um, really nice?" Helga stated.
"You are so irritating, you know that? I tell you the one thing I've been terrified of you finding out about for weeks now and that's what you give me?" Arnold's voice was rising as he spoke.
"I don't know what else you want me to say, Football Head," she argued.
"Just say the truth!"
"You want the truth?! Fine, I love it okay? I love it so much that it's fucking overwhelming. It's like there's a fucking raging sea of emotions churning inside of me because not only am I obsessed with you, but you're so god damn cryptic it's actually scary because I can't begin to even try to figure you out. You're such a damn mess Arnold, and it's frustrating because I'm a mess too, I'm the biggest fucking mess and I don't know what in the ever-loving fuck what we are going to do or where we go from here. I'm struggling between keeping myself afloat long enough to actually feel happy for the first time in five years and getting pulled down into an endless sea of shit and heartbreak. I'm literally drowning but when I'm with you it's like...like I can breathe," Helga had spoken so quickly that she was practically gasping for air by the end. Once her own words dawned on her, she immediately slapped a shaky hand to her forehead, that wasn't what she was supposed to say.
Shit. Flood gates opened, she thought. Arnold was obviously taken aback as he stared at her with a wide-eyed gaze. Helga looked away from his searching eyes, she was nervous about what he might say after that debacle.
"Your turn," Arnold stated simply.
"W-what?"
"It's your turn. Ask me a question," he said. Frankly, Helga was a bit lost for words. Her mind felt like someone left a television on a station of static, so much noise, but also nothing at all.
"O-okay," she thought for a moment. "Well what about you? What do you think about us and...stuff?"
Arnold pondered and laughed lightly, "I mean, you're not wrong about anything. We kind of are a mess, but it's sort of a lovely mess, don't you think?"
A small smile found her lips and she exhaled in relief, "It is sort of lovely, yes